


Odd

by 4ce_in_sp4ce



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Eames is very much in love, M/M, POV Eames (Inception), Stream of Consciousness-ish, sort of a character study?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26620879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4ce_in_sp4ce/pseuds/4ce_in_sp4ce
Summary: Arthur was an odd man. He had been as long as Eames had known him, and Eames wouldn't have it any other way
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 52





	Odd

Arthur was an odd man. Eames had known that ever since they'd first worked their first job together over a decade ago. They'd both been young and new to the field and he'd barely been able to stand Arthur, with his impeccable suits and clipped tone and constant questions and clarifications. He’d stood out in stark contrast against the other members of the team of more experienced extractors who were more concerned with the forest rather than the trees. They’d had a relaxed confidence that Arthur had lacked, replacing it instead with a focused intensity and insistence on detail. He was rigid and pedantic and he’d grated on Eames' nerves like no one else on the team.

Arthur was more confident but no less pedantic and specific when they worked together again a year later on the job in Berlin and Eames still found it annoying, but maybe not quite as much. Extraction was, in many respects, an art. He’d come to appreciate, though, that it was a science in others, and Arthur was good at those parts. Very good. His intensity and mannerisms were still a bit peculiar but he was thorough and reliable and admittedly better than most of the pointmen Eames had worked with, so he supposed it wasn't the worst trade-off. The extraction world was full of characters, and Arthur was far from the worst Eames had had to put up with.

He was still an odd man, though, even if he was the best at what he did, and Eames seemed to pick up on a new quirk with every job they worked together. Like how Arthur always had a notebook on him, taking notes about anything and everything. How he chewed on his pens when he was frustrated. How he disliked shaking hands and hated wearing jeans and loved instant coffee but only if it was Nescafe (and he could always tell if it wasn’t).

The more Eames got to know Arthur the more he discovered how strange and contradictory he was. Arthur was precise and organized and routinely got so distracted he forgot to eat. He was a hardened criminal who was quick and efficient and even brutal at times, and he’d followed Cobb around the globe for almost 3 years after Mal’s death despite the often painful consequences. He insisted on getting all his clothes tailored to fit and then stole Eames’ sweaters, absolutely refusing to give them back despite the fact they were two sizes too large on him. He was calculating and efficient and sometimes a little unsettling, and when he smiled Eames couldn’t help but smile back.

Arthur made lists and kept receipts and always wore socks to bed because he hated having cold feet. He made colour coded spreadsheets for trivial things. He laughed at his own jokes and hummed to himself while he worked when he thought no one else was around. He loved expensive wine and cheap beer and talked incessantly during movies. He created arbitrary routines that he stuck to with a devotion that was both confusing and endearing, and over time Eames had found himself gradually and unquestioningly worked into those routines because that was what it meant to be in Arthur’s life. What it meant to be important to him. 

Eames reached over and gently brushed Arthur’s hair out of his face as he slept, careful not to wake him. The world of extraction was full of strange and odd people and Arthur still managed to stand out through it all. Familiarity and intimacy hadn’t diminished that fact and even after years of knowing each other- as colleagues, as friends, as lovers, as husbands- Eames still found himself fascinated by the intricate, contradicting, wonderful peculiarities of the man beside him. Arthur was the oddest man Eames had ever met and Eames absolutely loved him for it.

**Author's Note:**

> trying out a slightly different writing style ^-^


End file.
